


Healing Growth

by Zippit



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zippit/pseuds/Zippit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only fitting memorial for a man like Maes wasn't cold stone and in the process of its creation it becomes so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing Growth

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just writing all the characters now aren't I.
> 
> Written for prompt #216 - Monster Movie/Supernatural AU over at [fma_fic_contest](http://fma-fic-contest.livejournal.com).
> 
>   
>   
> 

The garden starts as a memorial for Maes because she can’t stand to think of him as cold and still when he never was in life. It also quickly becomes something to make her sweet Elysia smile in the pain filled days and months that follow.

They don’t have much space out on their balcony but that doesn’t stop her from filling it with pots and plants until there’s only a narrow path left for them to use. It soothes her to be grounded in the here and now of growing things. To focus on the present is better than on the future where her dreams lie scattered on the ground, broken and seeping.

Maes was always a man of grand plans and promises. What made him special was he made them real. It’s why the nights are the worst when the worries creep in and the dreams, nightmares, take hold. They show her what her future should’ve been. Elysia growing up into a talented, bold woman like her father. They’d have albums overflowing with pictures and hardly any place to put them. She sees the world she was promised playing out in her dreams only to awaken to the empty stillness of morning.

She’s taken to letting Elysia crawl into bed with her to fill the absence of Maes, to stop being so alone in the mornings in a bed better made for two. She needs to put a stop to it before the comfort hardens into routine and calcifies the pain into what their lives center on. Elysia has too much life left for Gracia to let that happen.

Amid the flowers that bloom in early August when Central City’s sweltering in the heat, their first vegetables come in. Tomatoes and zucchinis, perfect and fragile, like the life laid out in front of her. They’re tender and succulent and make excellent dishes for her and Elysia. 

Gracia’s unprepared for the way the plants overflow their pots and turn her balcony into even more of a jungle. Soon enough she has more vegetables to eat than she knows what to do with. More tomatoes and zucchinis, spinach, and chives, and peppers. All she goes to the store for nowadays is meat to lend different flavors to their food.

She’s canning and pickling and preserving her garden every way she can. She’s putting away more money than she’s spending. Much more than she thought possible with Maes gone. Elysia’s future is looking more secure with every passing day.

She does all of this after a tiring day at work, but she doesn’t mind. It keeps her busy. It keeps her from thinking too much about what’s missing. Whenever the Elrics stop by she puts them to work. With more hands, she gets more done and they’re always eager to help. They play with Elysia and when their laughter fills her home she feels peace.

Roy Mustang also stops by. Far less frequently than the Elrics and with an awkward reserve that’s a holdover from when she and Maes were dating. The air is also always laced with his guilt and grief. It’s as tangled and heavy on his shoulders as the sentiment the Elric brothers bear. All of them are still chasing the goals that likely lead Maes to his death. But unlike Roy, Edward and Alphonse cover theirs with light and joy. Roy turns harder, burns brighter, with purpose and justice.

She wants to tell them Maes would’ve done it anyway. It was his nature and nothing would’ve stopped him even if he knew how it would all end. She has told Edward and Alphonse this. She’s not sure if their souls were lightened any but they’ve had enough hardship pressed on them. They didn’t need the illusion of her condemnation.

She’s also told Roy this but she thinks he’s too grown into taking burdens upon himself to take comfort in the small bit of absolution she can offer. Gracia makes her home welcome to him whenever he does stop by. She hopes, for his sake, that one day he finds who murdered her husband and brings them to justice. Vengeance is a companion no one should have for long while grief is the worn blanket that will linger with you through life.

Soon enough she’s pressing the excess from her garden into the hands of the Elrics and Mustang. They need looking after despite what they may think and it lets her feel tied to the world outside of her Elysia. It’s the small things that matter and allow her to climb her way into a new life.

One day she walks out into the leafy foliage and breathes in the scent of dirt and growing things. She looks around at all she’s managed to do and it’s much more than she ever expected. She closes her eyes feeling the sun beat down on her face. For a moment, it feels like arms encircle her and a warm voice murmurs “I love you.”

Gracia knows then she’ll be fine. She’ll make it through this and anything else life may throw at her. She reaches out to gently rub green leaves between her fingers. Plans for next year’s garden already swirl in her head. Things won’t ever be the same again but they won’t be horrible either.


End file.
